Effort opposing water rate hike ongoing
A leader of the group gathering signatures in support of a referendum on the city of Hot Springs’ water rate increase said “hundreds” of people have signed the petition.
“I’m not sure exactly where it is, because as we’re talking there are people gathering signatures,” District 7 Justice of the Peace-elect Dayton Myers, referring to the signature count, said Tuesday.
“I think it’s coming along pretty well.
“Very few people don’t want to sign the petition. There’s not too many people in the city of Hot Springs who support raising their water bills. That’s what our volunteers have seen.”
Today marks the midway point of the 30 days between the Hot Springs Board of Directors’ Nov. 15 adoption of the rate increase ordinance and the Dec. 15 submission deadline. City code gives citizens 30 days from the adoption of an ordinance or resolution to gather signatures in support of a referendum.
More than 1,500 signatures, or 15% of the 10,496 votes cast in this month’s mayoral race, are needed to compel the board to refer the ordinance to voters in a special election.
“Over the next 10 days we’re really going to hit the ground running,” Myers said. “I feel confident where we are right now that we’re not going to have any problem reaching the threshold.”
Myers said volunteers going door to door collected most of the signatures gathered through Tuesday. County voting rolls inform which doors get knocked on, ensuring signers are registered voters.
“That has been one question we’re absolutely making sure of,” he said, noting that some candidates who ran for city board in the Nov. 8 election are contacting voters who signed their petitions for nomination last summer.
“We know if they’ve voted in the last city board race and that they’re active participants in the voting process. Out of the number we’ve gotten I feel confident we’ll be able to submit a very good percentage of them,” he said.
District 4 city Director-elect Dudley Webb is likely to chair the ballot question committee the group plans to form, Myers said. Webb and Myers addressed the board at its Nov. 15 business meeting, asking it to refer the rate increase to voters rather than adopting it by ordinance.
Myers said the group is waiting to announce the committee’s other officers.
“One reason we’ve been hesitant to announce the officers is because people have been trying to put so much pressure on Dudley and I,” Myers said. “A lot of the people who’ve stepped up to help us have been getting pressure. They don’t want to step out too much in front of this.
“We have a tremendous base behind us. I think if we get the signatures it’s a no-brainer that we’re able to win the election.”
City code allows referendums to be held during a special election. The state election code limits special elections on measures and questions to February, May, August and November in years without a presidential election.
The city said the $4 increase in monthly base rates for residential customers inside the city and $6 increase for customers outside the city are needed to finance the remainder of the Lake Ouachita water supply project, which the city has said is about $40 million over budget.
The city’s financial adviser told the board if the roughly $50 million in new and refinanced debt the rate increase will service weren’t sold by the end of the year the city would have to wait until next summer. That’s the earliest its 2022 financial statements could be audited, providing potential debt holders a prospectus on the water fund’s debt capacity and cash flow.
Myers said putting off consideration of a rate increase until next summer would give the city time to form the nonvoting advisory committee required by law. The requirement has been in effect for more than a year, but the city has yet to abide by it.
The 2021 law requires municipal water providers with 20% or more of their customer base beyond their boundaries to establish a nonvoting advisory committee made up of at least two unincorporated area residents. More than half of the city’s customers reside outside the city and pay a 50% premium for water.
“I think getting the advisory board established is going to ensure we’re going to have transparency,” Myers said. “There will be some oversight from whomever’s appointed to that committee. I think that the public will have a lot more input if it were pushed back to July because of the referendum.”
City Manager Bill Burrough told the board earlier this month that the city may have to suspend new utility connections if the rate increase doesn’t go into effect. He said the city’s current water supply and treatment capacity struggle to keep up with demand during peak times.